Winnipeg played so poorly in its 25th game of the season that Scott Arniel told reporters in Buffalo the team had embarrassed itself, Kyle Connor described the team’s play as “disconnected,” and Adam Lowry called a players’ only meeting.

These player report cards are based on the Jets’ full season to date. That should make the grades a little bit better, given just how poorly Winnipeg played in Buffalo, but the Jets still fall well short of expectations at 13-12-0. There aren’t a lot of A’s to go around, given Winnipeg set the Stanley Cup as its goal in September but falls short of the playoff cut line on Dec. 1.

After 25 games, here are The Athletic’s Winnipeg Jets report cards.

ForwardsMark Scheifele — A+

Mark Scheifele has been the class of Winnipeg’s forward group. His 13 goals and 19 assists for 32 points put him ninth in league scoring — fifth among Canadians, if you’re keeping Olympic count. He’s a scoring chance from prime real estate waiting to happen.

Kyle Connor — A

Kyle Connor is tied with Scheifele for the team lead in goals (13) and second in points, with 30. He’s a consistent creator of dangerous scoring chances for himself and his linemates, using his shiftiness and speed to exploit open lanes and his fast hands to fool goaltenders. You’d like for him to have scored more than one power-play goal and he’ll never win a Selke Trophy but Connor is consistently one of Winnipeg’s most dangerous players.

Gabriel Vilardi — B+

Gabriel Vilardi has scored five goals and two assists during the Jets’ 1-5-0 run, bringing him up to 21 points in 25 games this season. He’s often thought of as the third most important member of the Jets’ top line but has games where he steals enough pucks to help Connor and Scheifele keep attacking late in shifts. (He also has games where his lack of footspeed shows as the Jets’ top line gets burned for transition offence.) Vilardi is tied with Connor and Josh Morrissey for first on the team with seven power-play points.

Nino Niederreiter — B+

Nino Niederreiter is having the best offensive season of his Jets career, with 15 points in 25 games putting him on pace for 49 at season’s end. He’s scored five of those points on the power play, eight at even strength, and two into an empty net while providing the same forechecking and backchecking effort as in previous seasons. NHL Edge data shows a steep decline in Niederreiter’s speed this season — a concern whether it indicates that he’s not moving well or that his line isn’t transitioning up the ice as well.

Alex Iafallo — C+

Alex Iafallo’s work rate is as high as ever and he’s playing on both special teams. He’s gotten most of his scoring chances within a few feet of the net, including four points on the power play. He’s not been enough to put the Lowry-Niederreiter duo over the top as Mason Appleton did in recent seasons but that may say more about Lowry’s hip surgery than Appleton’s dominance. Iafallo’s nine points in 25 games aren’t a lot but it puts him seventh in Jets scoring.

Morgan Barron — C+

Morgan Barron hasn’t been able to keep up his early season hot streak but he’s still a unique player on the Jets roster, combining size and speed to help push the puck up ice. He’s playing a big role on a successful penalty kill and hasn’t had to dig as many pucks out of his net at five-on-five as a lot of his teammates. He hasn’t been able to tilt the ice but has been able to track back to the centre slot and cut down on his opponents’ Grade A scoring chances.

Cole Perfetti — C+

Cole Perfetti has created enough scoring chances to shoot up this list but he’s only just started to finish them. His four points in 11 games represent a 30-point pace — the lowest points rate of his career — but he’s shooting more often and creating more scoring chances than he did last season. Perfetti’s finishing has let him down, though: The only players with worse shooting percentages at five-on-five have yet to score a goal.

Vladislav Namestnikov — C+

There just aren’t enough forwards having success for the Jets this season. Vladislav Namestnikov has eight points in 25 games and his most notable Monday contribution was the giveaway that sprung Buffalo for Dylan DeMelo’s holding penalty and then the Sabres’ first goal. He’s close to the top of Winnipeg’s forward group because of chance creation more than finishing — he’s usually in such good position that his impact is to help other players’ flow of play.

Adam Lowry — C+

I don’t think we’ve seen the best version of Adam Lowry yet this season. He’s not moving at full speed or controlling games on the cycle. His three points in 13 games reflect a lack of offensive zone time, while he’s averaging just a single shot per game. Lowry’s dominant shutdown performances have been a staple of the team’s success in recent seasons but he’s still getting up to speed since his hip surgery.

Gustav Nyquist — C-

Gustav Nyquist is clever, he’s a bit quicker than advertised, and he’s not impacting the game all that much. He’s yet to score his first Jets goal and is scoring at a 25 point per 82 game pace — the lowest rate of his NHL career. He grades out better than I’d expect on shot metric based models, which might speak to good decisions at the blue lines or to his ability to get pucks to the net once they’re already in the zone.

Jonathan Toews — C-

If he’d had any other career or any other hometown, Jets fans would find it unacceptable that their No. 2 centre had scored only nine points in 25 games while getting outscored 20-8 at even strength. Toews is on pace for 30 points in 82 games, which represents the worst scoring rate of a Jets second-line centre since Olli Jokinen in 2012-13.

That’s not to say that points are everything or that Toews is a finished product at this moment in his comeback. There are still times when it’s obvious he thinks the game at a higher level than his opponents do. His poor on-ice shooting percentage may regress (slightly) in his favour, but footspeed remains a concern.

Cole Koepke — D

Cole Koepke has created enough scoring chances such that you’d expect him to have a goal by now. He hasn’t buried them, although he’s used his speed well on the PK. He’s well short of matching his scoring pace from last season in Boston.

Tanner Pearson — D

Tanner Pearson has scored four points in 23 games without turning into the fourth-line play driver the Jets had hoped for. He’s like a lot of players in the team’s bottom six in that his effort level is good, his footspeed is slow, and he needs somebody else to drive his line.

Parker Ford — D

Parker Ford works hard, makes himself a pain when possible, and still has two of Winnipeg’s 10 fastest speed bursts so far this season. He also got buried in terms of shots and scoring chances when he was on the ice. Ford’s cross-crease pass to Brad Lambert for Lambert’s first NHL goal was his only point in 11 Jets games this season.

Nikita Chibrikov — D

Nikita Chibrikov’s motor didn’t quit but he didn’t get to the point of impacting play at the NHL level. He frequently got his wires crossed with veteran linemates, the play dying on Chibrikov’s stick when a more productive option was available. He has two points in six AHL games after scoring none in 12 games with the Jets.

Brad Lambert — D

Brad Lambert has started to chip in for the Moose, scoring a goal and two assists in his last four games. This brings his total to three points in eight AHL games this season — a figure he’ll need to improve upon if he’s meant to prove he’s an NHL player.

DefenceJosh Morrissey — A+

Josh Morrissey could finish the season as a Norris Trophy finalist. It’s astonishing that he’s scored 24 points in 25 games, or that the Jets are crushing his minutes, 31-17, at five-on-five. Nick his offensive totals for playing primarily behind Winnipeg’s top line if you want but Cale Makar is playing an even bigger share of his minutes with Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas. Morrissey has been outstanding this season.

Dylan Samberg — B

Dylan Samberg is showing some signs of his usual excellence. His numbers with Neal Pionk were excellent, just like they’ve always been. That said, Samberg spent most of his time with Elias Salomonsson buried in his own zone and has struggled with Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn. He may be Winnipeg’s best pure defender but Samberg hasn’t been able to tilt the ice all by himself. The Jets have been outscored 10-4 with him on the ice (although his shot metrics are near 50 percent).

Dylan DeMelo — C+

Dylan DeMelo hasn’t been the “coach’s porn” puck retrieval all-star that he was early in his Jets career, nor has he struggled quite like he did to start last season. His 10 points in 25 games put him sixth on the Jets in team scoring, but he has taken 12 minor penalties — second-most on the team to Stanley. The Jets have won his minutes as they usually do and his underlying numbers are solid. Still, it’s reasonable to think DeMelo’s chemistry with his Norris-contending defence partner has a disproportionate impact. He leads the Jets’ sixth-ranked PK in TOI.

Neal Pionk — C+

Neal Pionk’s point scoring rate prior to his injury was the lowest of his Jets career. He’s typically so good at finding shot lanes for deflections as to generate power play assists, but he’s scored points at less than half of last year’s rates. Pionk has also been in tough at five-on-five: He’s split roughly 70 percent of his minutes with Logan Stanley and Haydn Fleury after playing most of his minutes with Samberg last season. Pionk has won those five-on-five minutes, but it’s taken a wild run of shooting and save percentages to get him there. He’s second on the Jets’ PK in TOI.

Logan Stanley — C+

Logan Stanley is outscoring Neal Pionk but losing his minutes 16-14 at five-on-five. Stanley is happy to block shots or drop the gloves but Winnipeg gives up a disproportionate number of scoring chances with him on the ice. He’s playing with more confidence in the offensive zone, despite poor expected goals and exit passing numbers. Winnipeg won Stanley’s minutes 28-20 last season; he might get closer to that if good health keeps him on the bottom pair (away from the other teams’ stars).

Colin Miller — D

Colin Miller has a track record of better results than he’s delivered so far this season. There’s an era in Vegas and Buffalo where Miller was used as a top four defenceman for periods of time. Miller has been relegated to part time status on the Jets’ blue line. There are times when he gets into the lineup and shines, putting his low games played totals in a curious light, but he’s been beaten 6-1 at five-on-five this year and hasn’t been able to register a point despite a booming shot.

Luke Schenn — D

Luke Schenn’s biggest impact likely comes in the form of off-ice leadership. The Jets get roughly 40 percent of shots when he’s on the ice, often struggling to break the puck out of their zone. The idea is that veteran savvy (and strength) will help in front of the net and in the corners but the Jets give up a lot of scoring chances from prime real estate. His exit passing has not been a strength this season. If there’s a playoff warrior moment in his future, it’s coming at the cost of the current Jets’ performance.

Haydn Fleury — D

Haydn Fleury’s size and speed are unique but his results resemble the other defencemen receiving poor grades. The Jets were torched 10-3 on the scoreboard when he was healthy and playing this season, enjoying some 37 percent of expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick. He didn’t score any points in 15 games, nor were his numbers better on the third pairing with Schenn than they had been playing tougher competition with Pionk. It’s been a year since he was so good on the third pair that he got pushed into the top four when Samberg broke his foot.

Elias Salomonsson — N/A

Watch his puck retrievals, exit passes, and defensive zone shoulder checks, and find plenty of signs that Salomonsson can grow into a top four defenceman. There are also mistakes and poor underlying numbers; Salomonsson was hemmed in his own zone for long stretches against Washington and Carolina. The sample size is tiny at two games; we’re not crowning Salomonsson Winnipeg’s exit pass king, nor are we dismissing his quality half an hour into his NHL career.

GoaltendingConnor Hellebuyck — B+

Winnipeg’s Hart Trophy-winning goaltender played fewer games than usual prior to getting shut down for his arthroscopic knee surgery. A larger number of those games than usual resulted in sub-.900 numbers and the .913 he holds now would be his lowest save percentage since 2021-22 — or, the last time the Jets’ team left this much to be desired. He’s still an elite goaltender and the only concern is that his knee required a scope at all. The Jets would do well not to rush him back.

Eric Comrie — C

Eric Comrie’s .893 save percentage in 10 games has not been enough to drag Winnipeg back into a playoff spot since Hellebuyck stepped aside — but he’s clearly getting hung out to dry, too. Sometimes it looks like he’s reading the play well; he’s made impressive saves by pushing off at the right time and squaring up in exactly the right place. Other times, he looks small in his net as he tries to fight through traffic.

Thomas Milic — N/A

Thomas Milic made his NHL debut and that’s a win. He allowed four goals in that game — and two more against the Sabres in Monday night’s debacle — but battled so hard he earned praise on Hockey Night. The Jets will likely turn to him again soon, given they play a back-to-back this weekend against Buffalo and Edmonton.